Rio men blank No. 4 Patriots

Rio Grande Sports Information
     RIO GRANDE, Ohio - If the notion wasn't already buried deep into the collective subconscious of the University of Rio Grande men's soccer team, the RedStorm may have learned a valuable lesson on Saturday afternoon.
     When things are clicking on both sides of the ball, they can play with just about any opponent in the country.
     Head coach Scott Morrissey's team parlayed a pair of second half goals and some solid defensive play into a 2-0 triumph over the University of the Cumberlands in non-conference play at Evan E. Davis Field.
     Rio Grande, which won for the first time since a season-opening triumph at Saint Xavier (Ill.) on Aug. 21, improved to 2-3-3 in a seven-game winless streak.
     The fourth-ranked Patriots, who ended the RedStorm's 2024 campaign in the NAIA national tournament, dropped to 5-3-2 with the loss.
     Rio Grande outshot the visitors 12-9 overall, but enjoyed a whopping 6-1 advantage in shots on frame.
     The RedStorm netted what proved to be the only goal they would need when freshman Facundo Rossich (Buenos Aires, Argentina) found the back of the net off of a left side touch from freshman Matthew Donaldson (Birmingham, England) inside the 18-yard box with 26:31 remaining in the match.
     Rio tacked on an insurance marker just over 13 minutes later when junior Lucas O'Donnell (Leeds, England) scored off an assist by junior Tommy Munoz Salazar (San Jose, Costa Rica).
     Freshman Samy Hamou (Paris, France) recorded one save in goal for the RedStorm.
     Javiero Izquierdo was credited with stops in a losing cause for Cumberlands.
     Rio Grande is scheduled to return to action on Thursday afternoon when it opens a two-game weekend RSC road swing at St. Mary-of-the-Woods College.
     Kickoff is set for 1 p.m.